Mozambique’s Coming Natural Resource Boom

Mozambique is set to become a world-class natural resource exporter with projections indicating that it will experience rapid increases in windfall revenues over the next several decades and well beyond. While this is welcome news for a low-income country with a substantial proportion of the population below the poverty line, it implies some potential economic management problems ahead. The main concern is the poor economic record of many other low-income countries with large natural resource endowments. Often these countries have experienced inferior rates of growth compared with countries lacking such endowments. This pattern, known as the natural resource curse has been documented in empirical research across a wide sample of nations. This page reflects the evolution of work and thought at SPEED on issues related to the natural resource boom over the lifetime of the program, as follows:

December 27, 2012: Extractive Industries in Mozambique-Concept Note.

August 5, 2013: How USAID can Assist Mozambique to Cope with the Impending Resource Boom

August 16, 2013: Impact of Mozambique’s Resource Revenue Boom on the Competitiveness of Business Sectors

August 28, 2013: The Columbia School of International and Public Affairs published “Mozambique: Mobilizing Extractive Resources for Development” offering a comprehensive assessment of the critical economic, political, legal, social, and environmental variables that will affect and be affected by the rapid development of Mozambique’s extractive resources. Please see the following link: http://mozambiqueextractivedevelopment.weebly.com/index.html In March 2014 SPEED translated into Portuguese and posted a comprehensive paper on Mozambique's resource boom by Columbia University entitled Moçambique: Recursos Naturais/ Sector Extractivo para a Prosperidade"

October 11, 2013: Mozambique's economic update and challenges in the face of the resource boom and the main structure of the extractive industries tax regimes, their impact on the economy and how to best manage the potential impact of the resource boom.

November 28, 2013: Competitiveness in light of Mozambique’s Resource Boom analyzing the potential impacts of the resource boom on key sectors such as agriculture, tourism and manufacturing.

August 2014 SPEED reviewed the recently passed petroleum law and analyzed the new Special Regime Law for the liquified natural gas (LNG) plants to be constructed in Cabo Delgado.

The information provided on this Web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government. This website is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) and Nathan Associates Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.